splitting headache. It's brain freeze, a commonmedical condition that
one does not need to worry about:
:->
The pista ice cream proudlysporting the green wafer looks delicious.
It is rock solid — a Himalayan peak in miniature. A quick spoonful
into the mouth —aaaaaah! A sharp, shootingpain travels to the head!
One moment, I'm enjoying a scoop of ice cream, the next, my mind is
numb andmy face, scrunched in agony. Did a rare germ survive in the
cup to attackthe brain? A mini powder bomb? Ah, no, it's the
brainfreeze.
You've had the dreaded ice-cream headache, right? There you are,
biting into an ice candy or sipping a milk shake, and suddenly you are
hit with the most awful headache! But don't blame the candy, it's not
acting alone. The roof of your mouth, your nerves and blood vessels
are involved too!
Change in temperature
"This happens because of the sudden change in temperature at the
roof," explained Dr. L. P. Mohan, dental surgeon. "In medicalterms,
there's vasodilatation, (dilatation of blood vessels) triggeringlocal
pain receptors causing prostaglandins to be released, which cause
pain, sensitivity and inflammation at the site of release. This
localised pain is taken up by the trigeminal nerve to send signals to
the brain. Since the trigeminal nerve senses pain from the entireface
through its many branches, the brain interprets the signal of the
brain freeze to be coming from the forehead, hence causing discomfort
in that region. The attack is called Spenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia —
neuro being nerves, algia being pain. Spenopalatine ganglia are the
nerves of the palate." Phew! All of this is a mouthful, so let's stick
with "brain freeze!"
Joseph Hulihan put it this way: when something coldtouches the roof of
the mouth, an alarm goes off. The "cold" signal tells the brain to
keep itself warm, and the rush of blood builds up pressure that
canlead to a headache. There is dilation of blood vessels, caused by a
nerve centre located above the roof of your mouth — when this nerve
centre gets cold, it seems to over-react.
The "delicious" pain was unravelled by researchers from Harvard
University, the University of Ireland, and the Department of Veterans'
Affairs. Volunteers were given ice water (no ice-cream!), and a
trans-cranial Doppler measured the rush of blood to the anterior
cerebral artery, the part of the brain that funnels oxygen to the
frontal lobe.
Funny why it should be called brain freeze. The pain associated with
brain freezes is the result of rapid cooling and warming, causing your
blood vessels to contract and then dilate quickly. Your body looks at
the rapid temperature change in your mouth as an indication of a
dangerouslycold environment, and so your blood cells contract
toconserve body heat. As the substance is swallowed, your blood cells
return to their previous size and it is this oscillation that is so
painful. If you've noticed, a brain freeze starts after you've
swallowed your bite!
Typically, the pain strikes within 10 seconds of the "ice cream
attack" and lastsfor about 20 seconds (It feels like much longer!).
But it may spread to the teeth, warns Dr. Mohan. "Though the teeth are
not directly involved in the brain freeze mechanism, the sudden
exposure to cold may affect teeth," he said. "The teeth may go in for
a thermal shock — a sharp pain. This affects the vital pulp tissue
lying beneath the enamel and dentine. You get 'teeth freeze.'"
All this is not going to make you swear off ice-cream, no way! You
don't have to feel helpless either. "Stop cold food from touching the
roof of your mouth," says Dr. Mohan. "Quickly warm the roof of your
mouth with your tongue. (It eases the surge of blood flow to
yourbrain.) Better still, avoid extremely cold food. Or choose a
slightly warmer environment. This will reduce the impact of cold
food." And best of all, eat cold foods slowly.
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:-:>
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